These are some of the books I’m excited to read in 2022! Since I have not read them yet, the descriptions of the books are not my own. If I love them, you’ll find them on a future book list.
Just a friendly reminder, I am an Amazon and Bookshop Affiliate, so if you decided to use the links below to purchase the books, I do get a commission. The price of the books does not increase for you. ❤️
The Maid by Nita Prose
Adult Mystery/Thriller
“A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.” Read more here: Penguin Random House
Released: 1/4/22
Black Girls Must Be Magic by Jayne Allen
Adult Fiction
Sequel to Black Girls Must Die Exhausted
“In this highly anticipated second installment in the Black Girls Must Die Exhausted series, Tabitha Walker copes with more of life’s challenges and a happy surprise—a baby—with a little help and lots of love from friends old and new.” Read more here: Harper Collins
Expected Release: 2/1/22
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow
Adult Historical Fiction
“A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter’s discovery that she has the power to change her family’s legacy.” Read more here: Penguin Random House
Expected Release: 4/5/22
Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
Middle-Grade Fantasy
Sequel to Amari and the Night Brothers
“After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.
But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!
The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?” Read more here: Harper Collins Publishers
Expected Release: 5/31/22
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
Young Adult Fantasy
“All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power.
But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.
Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.
When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.
If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process.” Read more here: Simon and Schuster
Expected Release: 11/8/22
Vinyl Moon by Mahogany L. Browne
Young Adult Coming of Age (Poetry)
“A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain.” Read more here: Penguin Random House
Released: 1/11/22
Ashes of Gold by J. Elle
Young Adult Fantasy
“Rue has no memory of how she ended up locked in a basement prison without her magic or her allies. But she’s a girl from the East Row. And girls from the East Row don’t give up. Girls from the East Row pick themselves back up when they fall. Girls from the East Row break themselves out.
But reuniting with her friends is only half the battle. When she finds them again, Rue makes a vow: she will find a way to return the magic that the Chancellor has stolen from her father’s people. Yet even on Yiyo Peak, Rue is a misfit—with half a foot back in Houston and half a heart that is human as well as god, she’s not sure she’s the right person to lead the fight to reclaim a glorious past.
When a betrayal sends her into a tailspin, Rue must decide who to trust and how to be the leader that her people deserve…because if she doesn’t, it isn’t just Yiyo that will be destroyed—it will be Rue herself.” Read more here: Simon and Schuster
Released: 1/11/22
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Adult Historical Fiction
“In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s death and her hidden past—a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.” Read more here: Penguin Random House
Expected Release: 2/1/22
Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala
Adult Mystery/Thriller
“Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can’t bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt’s Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila’s little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.” Read more here: Penguin Random House
Expected Release: 2/8/22
Wahala by Nikki May
Adult Mystery/Thriller
“An incisive and exhilarating debut novel following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group—the most unforgettable girls since Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha.” Read more here: Harper Collins
Released: 1/11/22
Turning by Joy L. Smith
Young Adult Novel
“In this raw, searingly honest debut young adult novel, a former aspiring ballerina must confront her past in order to move forward from a devastating fall that leaves her without the use of her legs.” Read more here: Simon and Schuster
Expected Release: 3/1/22
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